EarLy Life Of The Greatest Holy Sufi Hazrat Khawaja
Gharib Nawaz (R.A)

Ajmer Sharif
Mazar Khwaja Garib Nawaz Mazar Rajasthan India

Rahmatu Allahi alaih (May the Mercy of Allah be upon
him)

Lineage, Journey, Final Settlement at Ajmer, Establishment of
Khanqah and His Message of Peace for Entire Humanity

Agar Gaiti Sarasar Bad Girad,
Chiragh-e-Chishtiyan Hargiz Namirad.

(If the Entire
Universe is Devastated by the Storm, the Lamp of Chishtiyan Shall
not Cease to Illuminate)

Hazrat Khawaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti (R.A.)
popularly known as Hazrat Khwaja Gharib Nawaz (R.A.) was born in 1142 A.D.
in Sijistan (Iran). His paternal genealogy is related to Hazrat Imam
Hussain (A.S.) and that of his maternal to Hazrat Imam Hassan (A.S.)
and thus he was a direct descendant of Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (S.A.W.).

Khwaja
Moin-uddin Hasan Chisti (R.A) occupies a prominent place among the
spiritual Healers of the world. In his temperament as in the
circumstance of his life
Khwaja Sahib was destined for an extra
ordinary career. Into a tottering civilization, fraught with
material acquisition, which guaranteed no safety to human life and
which conferred no spiritual freedom on human beings he burst forth
all the masterful force of his personality, There is a complete
blending of greatness and grace, mediation and action precept,
practice, indifference of the mystic and idealism of a Saint. He
stands for all that is true, Beautiful and Noble..

He is a SYMBOL OF LOVE, HARMONY AND TRUTH.
The sources of this power may be traced to his
own exceptional endowments. Throughout his life, he exhibited the
noble traits of character so peculiar to the house of Prophet
Mohammed (S.A.W) to which he belonged.

His father, Sayyid Ghiyas-u’d-din, a pious man
of some means, died when his son was in his teens. He left as legacy
an orchard and a grinding mill. Once Moinuddin Hassan was looking
after the plants in his garden that a mystic, Shaikh Ibrahim Qanduzi,
happened to pass by. Shaikh Mu’in-u’d-din entertained him in his
garden. Hagiologists trace the germination of mystic attitude in him
to the blessings of this Saint. In fact, the most powerful factor in
giving a mystic touch to his personality at this early stage was the
condition of Sijistan which had suffered terribly at the hands of
the Qara Khita and the Ghuzz Turks.

It drove the Khwaja’s mind
inwards and he realized the futility of hankering after worldly
glory or looking after worldly goods. He sold all his assets, gave
the proceeds in charity and took to itineracy. He visited the
eminent scholars of his age. While on his way to Iraq, he passed
through Harvan, in the district of Naishapur. Here he met Khwaja
‘Usman Harwani’ and was so deeply impressed by his spiritual
eminence that he decided to join the circle of his disciples. For
twenty years he accompanied him on his arduous mystic journeys and
performed all sorts of personal services to him. Shaikh Mu’in’d-din
once told his disciples. “I did not give myself a moment’s rest from
the service of my Peer-o-Murshid, and carried about his night
clothes during his journeys and stoppages”.

Khwaja Gharib Nawaz Haj and Prophet’s command

As
the great Khwaja become accomplished and perfect in every respect,
the divine tutor (Hazrat Khwaja Usman Harwani (R.A.)) honored him
with his robe and took him to Haj. Both then proceeded to Makkah and
performed the Haj, and then went to Madina and stayed there for
sometime, to get the blessings of Prophet Hazrat Mohammad (S.A.W.)

One night in a trance he was ordered by the Holy Prophet Hazrat
Mohammad (S.A.W.)

“O Moinuddin! You are a prop of our faith. Proceed to India and show
the path of truth to the people there. That is why he is known as
Ataye Rasul/Naib-e-Rasul.” (Lieutenant of Prophet Mohammad (S.A.W.))

Later he undertook independent journeys and came into contact with
eminent Saints and scholars like Shaikh Najm-u’d-din Kubra, Shaikh
Najib-u’d-din ‘Abdul Qahir Suhrawardi, Shaikh Abu Sa’id Tabrizi,
Shaikh Mahmud Ispahani, Shaikh Nasir-u’d-din Astarabadi and Shaikh
‘Abdul Wahid – all of whom were destined to exercise great influence
on contemporary religious life and thought. He visited nearly all
the great centers of learning in those days – Samarqand, Bukhara,
Baghdad, Naishapur, Tabriz, Aush, Ispahan, Sabzawar, Mihna, Khirqan,
Astarabd, Balkh and Ghaznin and aquainted himself with almost every
important trend in Muslim religious life in the middle ages. His
moral and spiritual qualities attracted many people to his fold and
he appointed his Khalifas in Sabzwar and Balkh.

Shaikh Auhad-u’d-din
Kirmani, Shaikh Shihab-u’d-din Suhrawardi and many other eminent
mystics benefited by his company. Having thus roamed all over the
Muslim lands which had not yet recovered from the terrible shocks of
Qara Khitai and Ghuzz invasions and were to be ravaged very soon by
the Mongols, he turned towards India. After a brief stay at Lahore,
where he meditated at the Shrine of one of the prominent Sufi,
Shaikh Ali Hajweri, he proceeded to Ajmer. Khwaja Gharib Nawaz
composed a couplet paying a glowing tribute to Shaikh Hajweri :

He is a wealth bestowing Saint in this world and hereafter and an
embodiment of divine light.

A complete spiritual guide for the imperfect
disciples and a leader of the perfect Saints.
He adopted the Indian tradition and culture, seeing the inclination
of Indians towards Music and singing he introduced Qawwali (Sama) to
convey his message.

Huzoor Gharib Nawaz (R.A.) breathed his last; after achieving the
command given to him by the Holy Prophet (S.A.W.). His noble soul
left the corporeal body on the 6th of Rajab 633 A.H./ 16th March
1236 at the age of 97. He was buried in the same prayer room (Hujra)which
was the center of his divine activities, throughout his stay at
Ajmer. Today his Shrine is popularly known as “Dargah Sharif of
Huzoor Gharib Nawaz (R.A.)”. People of all walks of life and faith
from all over the world, irrespective of their caste, creed and
beliefs visit this great Shrine to offer flowers, Chaddar and Itar
of their esteem and devotion. The rich and the poor stand side by
side to pay their homage and respect to the divine soul and to
acquire the peace of mind & soul to get the blessings of Huzoor
Gharib Nawaz (R.A.)

Ajmer was not merely the seat of Chauhan power ; it was a religious
center also where thousands of pilgrims assembled from far and near
Shaikh Mu’in-u’d-din’s determination to work out the principles of
Islamic mysticism at a place of such political and religious
significance shows great self-confidence.

Gharib Nawaz was the exponent of the true spirit of Islam. Like
orthodox and static theologians he did not engage himself in vain
metaphysics but rigorously strove to save human sympathy from
running into narrow grooves and struck at the very root of
parochialism, casteism and religious exclusiveness which are being
propagated by some vested interests. According to Gharib Nawaz the
religion is not merely based on rituals and ecclesiastical
formalities but “service of humanity” is its sole raison d’etre .
Describing the qualities which endear a man to God, Gharib Nawaz
referred to the following attributes : AWWAL SAKHAWATE CHUN
SAKHAWATE DARIYA, DOM SHAFQAT-E-CHUN SHAFQAT-E-AFTAB, SIWAM TAWAZO-E-CHUN
TAWAZO-E-ZAMEEN. (First, river like generosity; second, sun-like
affection, and third earth like hospitality.) When once asked about
the highest devotion of God, Gharib Nawaz remarked that it was
nothing but

i.e. to redress the misery of those in distress, to fulfil the needs
of the helpless and to feed the hungry.

Gharib Nawaz loved humanity in general and the Indians in
particular. Indeed he had a mission to bring a social and spiritual
revolution.

He ruled over the hearts. The concepts of national integration,
composite culture (Ganga-Jamni Tehzeeb) originated from his life
style and teachings and thereafter were spread by his representative
disciples.

Perhaps in no other country were the effects of this social and
cultural revolution so marked and so far reaching as in India.
Sufism (Islamic mysticism) reached India when it had entered the
last and the most important phase of its history the organisation of
Sufistic structure of Islam having various denominations, especially
Naqshbandia, Qadriya, Suharwardia and Chishtiya. Among these
denominations the Chishtiya order has been supremely successful on
all levels of pluralistic society of India based on cultural,
religious, and social differences.